Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray on Friday claimed that had Amit Shah agreed to his proposal in 2019 the BJP would have had its Chief Minister by now. “About what happened yesterday, I had told Amit Shah earlier as well that there should be a Shiv Sena Chief Minister for two and a half years. Had they done this earlier, there would have been no Maha Vikas Aghadi,” Thackeray told the media persons here.
Thackeray was speaking at his first interaction with the media after he stepped down on Wednesday paving the way for the Shiv Sena rebel faction and the BJP alliance to form the government in Maharashtra. In the new alliance government, the BJP has decided to play second fiddle to the rebel faction anointing its leader Eknath Shinde as Chief Minister of Maharashtra. BJP leader and former two-time – the second stint lasting only three days – Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who was expected to take the reins of the state for a third time, had to contend with the post of Deputy Chief Minister in the new dispensation.
Adding further, Thackeray said, “The manner in which government has been formed and a so-called Shiv Sena worker has been made Chief Minister, I had said the same to Amit Shah. This could have been done respectfully. The Shiv Sena was officially with you (at that time). This Chief Minister (Eknath Shinde) is not a Shiv Sena Chief Minister.”
It may be recalled that unlike 2014 elections, the state electorate had thrown a fractured mandate, with BJP winning 105 seats, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena 56, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Indian National Congress 44, and the rest going to smaller parties and Independents. The political circus that ensued saw Fadnavis forming the government with NCP leader Ajit Pawar as his deputy and the
fall of government barely after three days on 26 November 2019 as Pawar failed to engineer a split in NCP rank to help the BJP cobble up a majority and help Fadnavis last the term.
Turning the table on him, however, Thackeray walked away from the BJP alliance to form Maha Vikas Aghadi government two days later with support from NCP and the Congress Party. With this ended Shiv Sena’s 30-year-long alliance with the BJP both in the state and at the Centre.
According to Thackeray, he had been told in negotiations with Amit Shah before 2019 state elections that Shiv Sena and BJP would share the Chief Minister’s term. If that arrangement had been put in place, each alliance partner would have had its Chief Minister for a term of two and a half years. Thackeray parted ways with the BJP.
The former Chief Minister slammed the newly formed Shinde-led government for its decision to build the metro car shed in Mumbai’s Aarey colony. Thackeray said, “Don’t project anger for me on Mumbaikars. Don’t change the proposal for the metro shed. Don’t toy with the environment of Mumbai.”
Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation had in September 2019 announced a plan to cut down over 2,700 trees from the Aarey colony for a car shed for the Metro. The colony, spread over 13,000 hectares, is home to over 27 Adivasi villages and wild-life species. A month later, the Bombay High Court dismissed all petitions against the proposed plan, clearing the way for the Metro car shed, which saw massive public protests in the city. After assuming office, then Chief Minister Thackeray decided to shift the proposed car shed from Aarey to Kanjur Marg and also withdrew cases registered against protestors.